I feel as though I’m missing the boat on my career somehow. Fundamentally, I believe in the power of collaboration. I believe that together people achieve more than an individual could possibly. But now, maybe just today, I feel like I’m heading nowhere fast on this current path. I’m tired of doing “my real work” after hours and working for a paycheck during regular work hours. I know that it stinks of midlife crisis. I really don’t care. I feel like I’m wasting time. The only thing worse to me than wasting time is waiting. They’re pretty closely related. I’m not sure what I’m waiting for.

I am so incredibly in love with CCS that I disgust myself sometimes. He’s so kind and understanding and smart and clever. Amazing. And I am thankful that the planets aligned to make him mine. Seriously… Wow. And.. Yay! 🙂

Also, cat fur.

I don’t think I’m entirely finished with my rant, but I do think that I’ve gotten a good deal of it out. I needed that first bullet point to be free. Pen to paper or at least fingers to keyboard. Good stuff.

I’ll try to write more often. I’m taking a MOOC about online reputation and personal branding, so this might morph a few times and/or it may disappear completely. Time will tell.

I can only think of one. And I think this might only be because our holiday season is brimming with new traditions as a couple. I’d like to make a mini-marathon in the spring (either the 500 or the Flying Pig) a new tradition beginning in 2013. CCS and I are registered to walk the 500 mini-marathon in May. It will be our first mini. It’s a daunting challenge on the horizon but I’m confident that we can both complete it. It’ll take come work, but we’re definitely able.

Sooo…. I’m a teeny bit late on this one. Alas, I was busy at an event that had to do with my community involvement. So there! Or something…

I can say that I’m quite active in the community. I’m currently involved with WFYI’s IRIS program as a volunteer reader. This year, I went from reading TIME magazine weekly to reading Indy’s Child monthly. The content isn’t a good match for me, unfortunately, and I’ll likely be wrapping that one up this year. I love that program and am very thankful that it is available to the community. I do plan to keep supporting the program.

For 2013, I’ve stepped up to serve in two new volunteer leadership roles. One with the arts community in mind and the other with my professional community. (I’m being intentionally vague here for privacy purposes. A future rant is in the works.)

I am a definite believer in being involved in the community and am a huge proponent of volunteerism. If you don’t like something, find a way to improve it and then find a way to make it happen. 🙂 There’s another rant in there for a future post. Happy Saturday!

Today’s prompt for Think Kit is: Interview 3 people about their favorite moments of the year. Share what you heard.

1. The first person I spoke with had a fond memory of the Indianapolis Fire Department being called to help cut a child’s head out of a lego table. Apparently it is much easier to get stuck in a lego table than to get unstuck from one.

2. The second person I spoke with was my Madre. One of her favorite memories was rushing to Terre Haute on my nephew’s birth day. We planned to meet family and friends in the Haute for a baby shower, but instead met Anderson, my lovely nephew, for the first time. Mom said that she and Dad arrived just in time to hear the lullaby being played on the intercom in the maternity ward to announce his arrival.

3. The third person I spoke with is an awesome new friend from Twitter. Actually, I think he may be from Carmel, but it’s all relative. He shared three favorite moments:
“- Singing on stage with Madonna at the Super Bowl. (Wowie wow, huh?)
– Getting a new job that I love (even though it drives me crazy). And…
– Turning the corner with my 2-year-old niece from her being afraid of me to loving on me. Man, I love my nieces and nephew!”

Another wise decision that I made this year was to participate in Project 137: A community of amazing people who want to love well, live fully, let go deeply, and make a difference. Each day for 137 days, we have received prompts encouraging us to love well, live fully and let go deeply. There have been writing assignments, day-brightening assignments, meditations, dares and double-dog-dares. And often in the same prompts.

While I can’t say much about it at the moment, one of the things that I did as a personal challenge was to reach out to a colleague I’ve admired for years and asked her about her career and educational paths. She was ready to share and has been very encouraging since. It took a little to get my out of my comfort zone to reach out to her, but I’m thankful that I did. Project 137 helped motivate me.

If you could meet someone new in 2013, who would it be? Or would you
rather spend more time with someone you already know?

I could go on record as wanting to meet some famous politician I
admire (Hilary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren…), a spiritual leader
(Dalai Lama or the Pope…) or a member of the Royal family, but I
won’t. There isn’t ONE person I’d like to meet in 2013. There are
many. I’d like to meet friends on social media that I’ve yet to meet
in-person, new colleagues and anyone with an open mind and open heart.
I’d like for my path to cross with creative inspiration, laughter and
perhaps a vodka martini or two.

I’d like to spend more time with my 3Fs (Friends, Family and Fiancé)
in 2013. I’ve become more involved in the association community and
the arts community this year and will be knee-deep in 2013. I’d like
to find time to spend more time with old friends simply being. Maybe
going for walks, sharing cocktails, talking about the day, week and
year that we’re sharing together regardless of the miles between us. I
want to be sure that I give my existing relationships the nurturing
they deserve because those connections helped make me, well…. me.